In the operation of construction machinery, especially the type known as a landfill compactor, it is quite common for the machine to traverse terrain that is filled with debris. In the case of a landfill compactor, the machine is driven over trash of all kinds to compact or compress it so that maximum use may be made of the available space on the landfill site.
In many landfill sites, there is an abundance of cable, wire, strands of scrap from manufacturing operations and strands of many other types of material. When operating over this type of material, it is quite common for the teeth of the drum-type wheels to become attached to these strands of material as they roll over it. In doing so, the strands of material are caused to revolve with the wheel and many times fall from the upper portion of the wheel, down on the axle. As the movement of the machine continues, the strands can become wrapped around the axle. In some instances, the material will become tightly wrapped around the axle and the wound material will tend to work its way along the axle in the direction of the wheel. This is an area wherein the final drive of the wheel assembly interfaces with the axle. Since the wheel assembly rotates along this interface and the axle does not, a rotational seal is required at this interface to keep dirt out and lubricating fluid within the axle assembly. It is a common and vexatious problem when this material becomes wound around the axle in the area of the seal interface because the strands, by the force of the winding, are forced into the sealed interface. When this happens the integrity of the seal is destroyed creating the need for immediate repair. This not only takes the machine out of production, it is also known to have a deleterious effect on the components of the drive assembly.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.